Needle



IFeb. 18, 1947. R. oRTHwlNE 2,415,117

NEEDLE Filedl April 4, 1945 n INvEm-on Raam/f O/erf/w//VE -ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 18, 1947 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE- NEEDLE Rudolf Orthwine, New York, N. Y.

Application April 4, 1945, Serial N0. 586,517

2 Claims.

This invention has primarily to do with needles having eye constructions which permit of quick and easy threading. Such needles have various special commercial uses, for example being used in applying tags to cloth articles such as garments and in that field they are known as tagging needles, but they may be used rather generally as sewing needles.

|The principal objects of the invention are facility of manufacture, low cost and satisfaction and dependability in use.

The invention does not involve any special construction o-r unorthodox features. Rather it contemplates a simple transformation of the standard needle having an eye in its large end. One of the side arms ofthe eye is severed at its rear end from the head and is provided with a permanent inward bend intermediate its end so as to touch r substantially touch the other arm and form a restriction in the eye.

The free end of the severed arm is spaced sufciently from the head to form a lateral opening into the eye and the arm acts as a spring to keep the restriction normally closed but will yield to allow a cord to pass into and out 0f the portion of the eye inside the restriction. Beyond the restriction the arm turns outward and its outer end extends at least ush with the head in that direction. The end of the head adjacent the opening is rounded to guide the cord or thread into and out of the opening.

The restriction may, if preferred, be formed by permanent inward curves in both arms.

I shall now describe the illustrated embodiments of the invention and shall thereafter point out the invention in claims.

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of one embodiment showing a tag and its attaching cord threaded into the eye ready for use.

Fig. 2 is a similar View of a, modified form.

The needle I of the invention is a simple modication of a standard needle having an eye of conventional form tapering from full width at the top or outer end to its apex at the bottom or inner end. Such an eye has its two side arms 2 and 3 connected at the outer or wide end by the cross member forming the head 4.

An embodiment of this invention may be made by a procedure which at one stage produces the standard needle. After annealing, one of the arms, shown as the arm 2, is severed from the head and is proportioned in length so as to leave a lateral opening 5 into the eye.

This arm then, as shown in Fig. 1, is provided ends, sufcient preferably to touch the opposite arm and thus form a restriction and dividing the eye into an inner closed portion 6 and an outer portion 'l having the lateral opening 5. The metal o-f the arms is treated as by electro-hardening, so that the arms have the property of springs and will open under stress and again close.

If preferred, the restriction dividing the eye into two portions may be obtained by forming an inward bend in :both of the arms 2 and 3. Such construction is illustrated in Fig. 2.

In any case the outer or free end of the arm 2 is at least flush with the extreme end of the head on that side, and this end of the head is precisely rounded so as to facilitate the passage of the cord both into and out of the opening 5. Also the head is proportioned so as to be somewhat shorter than the diameter of the needle at the portion `6. In this way the catching. of the material in the opening 5 is avoided.

To thead the needle, the thread or cord 8 is merely looped over the needle and slid back until the opening 5 is reached, when it enters the openingl and then is drawn through the restriction into the closed portion 4E of the eye. The spring of the arms is such that a sharp snap is required to pull the thread past the restriction.

The needle is shown in Fig. 1 ready for use for tagging, a tag 9 having its attaching loop 8 threaded into the eye of the needle. The needle is inserted through the article near its edge and the loop is thus drawn through. The loop is then released from the needle and the tag is brought around the edge of the article and inserted through that portion of the loop on the opposite side which was pulled through by the needle.

It will be understood that the needle is adapted for general utility and that the constructions described and illustrated are but examples of possible embodiments of the invention as pointed out in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A needle having an elongated opening at one end forming an eye with the head integral with one arm and transversely determining the eye rat its outer end and the other arm disconnected from the head and having its free end spaced from the head to form a lateral opening to the eye imrne` diately adjacent the head, the two arms being of substantially uniform cross section from end to end and at least one of them being bent inward- 1y intermediate its ends sufficient to form a restriction in the eye opening between its large and small ends, the arms being sufficiently resilient substantially uniform cross section from end to end and the said other arm Vhaving an inward bend intermediate its ends sufficient to form a restriction in the eye opening between its large and small ends and being resilient to allow the passage of a cord through the restriction While normally holding the restriction closed, the free end 4 of the said other arm extending ush with the adjacent end of the head from which it is spaced and the head being shorter than the diameter of the needle through the eye portion inside the restriction. y

RUDOLF ORTHWINE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of ille of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS record in the Number Name Date 2,190,792 Lippard Feb. 20, 1940 741,556 vSessums Oct. 13, 1903 

